The NewsDemon Blog

For many who have used a newsreader for a number of years to access newsgroups will remember the transformation many of them made and how capable they grew to be once Windows XP was released. Many still use the most popular OS today as it had been the most stable release Microsoft had achieved by that point.

However, as of today, you have exactly two years left to get support on your Windows XP-powered computers. The same goes for Microsoft Office 2003. Okay, so it’s not exactly time to flip over the sand timer, but it is finally a real milestone that points to the death of an operating system that, for years and years and years, simply would not die. And it means that hordes of companies around the country are finally going to need to upgrade.

Okay, so it isn’t the most radical move we’ve ever seen, but it looks like this time, Microsoft won’t change its mind and end up extending the support deadline.

Microsoft stopped selling retail copies of XP in 2008. Just like XP, support for Office 2003 will also end in April 2014, so Microsoft is also using this occasion to remind these users that Office 2010 is indeed a viable alternative to an office suite that was released.

When Microsoft pulls XP’s plug, it will have maintained the OS for 12 years and 5 months, or about two-and-a-half years longer than its usual practice and a year longer than the previous record holder, Windows NT, which was supported for 11 years and 5 months.

Without a doubt the most significant base that is driving this shift is the enterprise market. For companies and organizations that own hundreds, or even thousands, of computers, upgrading is not an easy or affordable process.

But Microsoft is now finally ending support for XP users, and Windows 7 is much more user-friendly and upgrade-worthy than its predecessors.